News

WLC Eats: KOL

16 July 2024 By Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde heads to KOL where he finds a “rustic yet refined ambience” with a wine list that includes the “Wild West” of Austria, alongside a “well paced’ fourteen course tasting menu that “really blows up” the sparkling wine on offer.

“Kol is the word for ‘cabbage’ in Mexican Spanish,” wrote Good Food Guide, here deployed as “a metaphor” for how chef Santiago Lastra “has brought 9,000 years of Mexican culinary heritage bang up-to-date for British diners.” Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Grace Dent highlighted the “extraordinary” langoustine tacos, calling them a “flavour sensation.” Additionally, Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes of House & Garden “left KOL with a smile that I couldn’t wipe off my face for quite some time.”

Design

With inviting interiors and comfortable furniture care of A-nrd Studio (who also styled sister venue, Caso do Frango, as well as Darjeeling Express, and Pearly Queen), KOL was acclaimed by the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards for its palette, billed as “an ode to the streets of Mexico.” Earthy tones and natural materials create a rustic yet refined ambience. Rather than suggesting a panopticon, the open kitchen with focal fire adds an interactive element. Soft lighting and large windows enhance the atmosphere, as does the Latin American soundtrack by sibling of Santiago, Eduardo Lastra.

Drinks

Head sommelier Anthony Gopal (formerly of Lurra and Trishna) includes a quote by Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka on the first page of his much-expanded list. The quote conveys a profound message about the consequences of disregarding nature: “If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork.”

Options by Gabriel-Glas veer from a humble Verdejo by Bodegas Naia (£10) to Biondi-Santi’s Brunello di Montalcino 2015 from magnum at £90. Also from big bottle, Josko Gravner’s rare, honeyed, still youthful Ribolla 2003 offers for those in the know a tempting exchange for £50 from a Grassl Vigneron Cru stem.

The sparkling selection by the bottle flexes from, with an ovary-like of label, Cidrerie du Vulcain’s Raw Boskoop 2018 from Fribourg, Switzerland (£80) to Marie-Noëlle’s Ledru, Cuvée du Goulté 2006 which is relatively gently marked up at £750, drawn from a regional champagne list, via Charles Palmer’s homegrown Blanc de Blancs Special Reserve 2013 from Winchelsea (£140).

Sections dedicated to Slobodne and Tschida showcase iconic, avant-garde wines like Slobodne’s La Rosa 2018, a bespoke one-litre bottling of Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon (£62), and Christian Tschida X KOL’s Hecatomb 2020, a magnum bottling of Cabernet Franc with a one-off artist label.

Accompanied by a detailed map which evokes the swirls of KOL’s tabletops, the list navigates Austria’s Grüner Veltliner heartlands and spotlights Styria’s emerging stars from what is described as the “Wild West for Austrian winemaking.” In addition, icons such as Miani’s Blanc Fumat Friulano 2022 (£160) honour Gopal’s Italian roots, while a neat, concise selection of Burgundy, including Domaine Prieure Roch, Les Clos des Corvees 2021 (£700) feature, though just one Bordeaux, Château Grand Puy Lacoste 1995 (£328) is listed on the entire 32 page list astonishingly.

Critically, the absence of Mexican wines in a venue which even includes an Oaxacan cedron and anise tea, detracts from the wine programme being fully aligned to the cuisine. According to one commentator who would prefer to remain nameless, this could easily be rectified, albeit the suggested wine might not suit every taste. “Michel Sager could sell them some interesting Mexican wine. The labels have pictures of masked wrestlers on and they drink like masked wrestlers made them.”
Perhaps to encourage guests to visit KOL Mezcaleria rather than linger at the table, just ten sweeter wines are listed, including a half of Domaine Belargus’ Roueres Quarts de Chaume 2020 (£126) but no port.

Reached via a glowing spiral staircase in this former police station, the earthen cocoon with Mexican artefacts is well worth exploring. Here, creations realised by head bartender, Ximena Perdigón include the Mezcal accented white Negroni served over KOL motifed ice alongside churros and caviar. For purists, bar manager, Irene Díaz oversees a standout agave selection defined by its species, including, from the “citrus” and “black pepper” scented “Convalis” variety which “bubbles during distillation” and “has a tendency to break the pot stills”, the KOL X El Destilado Ranuflo Atamirand.

Dishes

Formerly of Mugaritz and Noma Mexico, Mexican-born maths enthusiast turned chef-patron, Santiago Lastra led the kitchen during our visit. His supportive leadership style, devoid of hierarchical uniforms, and painstaking sourcing has ensured KOL’s ascent to seventeenth place on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, making it the highest-ranked UK restaurant, and a Michelin star. Head chef, Rey Lopez, formerly of Eleven Madison Park, is assisting him.

There were numerous standout moments in the well-paced culinary performance, which began with a rousing mezcal margarita, and ran to fourteen courses, including snacks and petit fours.

Excepting a quartet of heritage corn varieties, chillies, and caviar, ingredients are reaped from the UK. These included the supple Scottish blue mussels and wild garlic in the almost tarragon-scented, opening “oblea” sandwich.

Served in a Gabriel Glas which “really blows up sparkling wines” said Gopal, Peter Jakob Kühn’s tender, dewy, biodynamic Brut Nature Sekt Blanc de Blancs (Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois) brought gentle bite to the albeit savoury crème brûlée-like, caviar topped “jericalla” of meadowsweet, and, Italian in origin, Chioggia beetroot.

The next match was particularly adept. The mighty Malvasia Istriana from Friuli’s Vignai da Duline is subject to a “Chioma Integrale” approach, meaning vines are left untrimmed. Gopal said that such wine is “under the shadow” of producers such as Radikon and Gravner. As bold as a ripe Viognier and bevelled by salinity, it weaved with the jolie laide earthy flavours of the “Nicoatole” corn custard, featuring broad beans at its core and green strawberries, culminating in the gentle warmth of chipotle.

An open sourdough taco of Scottish langoustine tail with chilli and sea buckthorn, upon which guests squeeze the goodness of a prize langoustine’s head, met not wine but an eccentric, disco pink, house-made sparkler of hibiscus and rhubarb, anchored by roasted Espadin and unpeated Speyside Scotch.

Meaning “sandal” given its shape, a “huarache” tortilla bore silken slices of seemingly raw Scottish wagyu atop elephant garlic and bone marrow, licked with veal jus. This was paired with a bloody, rested, 1985 Pinot Noir from Domaine Rolet Pere & Fils Arbois in magnum. A considered and memorable meeting.

However, the best match of the meal was the 2021 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling, being Gopal’s “favourite Grosses Gewachs down in the Nahe” with scallop ceviche with a granita of sweet cicely. Less successful was the pairing of the currently shy Vorberg Riserva Terlan 2020 from magnum with lightly pickled Norfolk asparagus with a condiment of crushed, nutty crickets, whose very long aftertaste was almost Campari-like in bitterness. Perhaps a bolder, more conventional, oak-led Chardonnay from Napa, drenched in ripeness, could have dealt with the unconventional pairing better. Not that such a wine exists at KOL.

Now “time for a bit of DIY” said manager Edie Jobson as the attractive kit for iconic “carnitas” landed. Starring confit pork belly beneath fine crackling, it was offered with sungold tomato salsa and an “under the counter” spicy Scotch bonnet sauce tempered with kombucha. Alongside an artfully presented plate of foraged additions included pineapple weed, which coincidentally brings huge personality to Will Lowe MW’s Limited Vintage Gin from Cambridge Distillery. However, it was Schloss Gobelsburg Heidegrund’s 2010 St. Laurent rather than gin, which brought enormous energy to the dish from the moment it was poured, displaying near-visible flavour trails of a rose garden from the glass.

Beyond a beetle-adorned label, the only sweet Furmint from Hungary’s Attila Homonna, a marketing and advertising exec turned DJ then winemaker—Edes Harmas 2021—brought notes of baked apple, sweet mint, and pineapple to a decadent “tamal” cake. Unravelled from a parcel, the steamed, finely grained, brown butter-enriched corn cake met buttermilk and fresh and dehydrated, jam-like strawberries, backed by the gentle body of chilli.

Finally, imaginative petit fours comprised boiled Welsh sea lettuce rolled in chocolate, evoking an almost prune-like flavour, again pepped by subtle chilli. Even though diminutive in size, this final bite, ably paired with Markus Altenburger, Bernstein Riesling 2009, “left in barrels for ten years” said Gopal, was emblematic of Lastra’s Japanese level of precision, albeit combined with exciting spice.

Last Word

With such compelling juxtapositions on plates and via pairings, KOL has become immensely popular with gastronomes, including, on our visit, a determinedly classic Chelsea-based wine merchant who appeared to be powering through orange wine until we saw a bottle of 1985 Dom Pérignon return for a top-up. Fortunately, Fonda is coming, in the middle of September, being Lastra’s second, more accessible restaurant on Heddon Street.